Ultimate winter mode? Problems and solutions..., also, in cab heater anyone?

[TimpanogosSlim]

Regarding in-cab heat, I recently acquired the electric heater core from a 2006 tdi jetta to retrofit into my 2007 GTI.

That's the revision E electric core. It's maybe 12mm thick and has it's own control circuitry. All i have to do is hookup power and ground, tie it into the convenience canbus, and use vag-com to tell the computer that it exists, and voila - instant heat.

the rev. E element is semi-rare and usually costs a ton of money. The rev. F and G are 'dumb' heating elements. Just 1000 watts worth of ceramic heating elements with fins and a couple power lugs.

These are small enough that they could probably be sandwiched into a modified heater core on just about any vehicle.

The problem is that you would need (really, NEED) a method of control. Probably pulse wave modulation on an array of big mosfets, thermometer near the heater box output, another right in the fins to detect over-heat condition, and duty cycles from 5% to 100% with, say, a minimum 5 second on or off cycle.

I'm considering it. PWM isn't supposed to be hard with an arduino.

[Enslaved_Pickle]

I redid the blend doors when i did the heater core. And i've never been a fan of electrically generated heat, too inefficient in my opinion " remember i'm striving for 60+mpg real world driving", was thinking about running the cab heater off a 1 gallon container of diesel, but i'd have to find one for about $300 in order to actually go through with it, i can't bring myself to spend $1200 + on a heater

[TimpanogosSlim]

I redid the blend doors when i did the heater core. And i've never been a fan of electrically generated heat, too inefficient in my opinion " remember i'm striving for 60+mpg real world driving", was thinking about running the cab heater off a 1 gallon container of diesel, but i'd have to find one for about $300 in order to actually go through with it, i can't bring myself to spend $1200 + on a heater

I hear what you're saying - but the modern ceramic PTC heating element isn't near as inefficient as a metal filament.

shame of it is, i can't seem to find numbers that describe just how much more efficient they are vs. say nichrome.

You could probably get a 1K0963235F or G from a 2008+ VW TDI plus a $12 digital thermostat - http://www.ebay.com/itm/200948859490 - plus a high current solenoid - http://www.ebay.com/itm/161000994310 and be good to go for less than $150.

set the thermostat for 24c and as soon as the water heater core is putting out heat you won't be using the electric at all.

My mk5 GTI now has the Rev.E CANbus controlled PTC heater core and the results are astounding - after 2 minutes all the windows are clear and after 15 minutes i have to take off my coat - but it does have the big alternator and i crammed the biggest AGM battery that will fit into the battery box.

The F and G revision cores are dumb (no on-board control) but could be controlled with simple off-the-shelf circuits.

[Enslaved_Pickle]

Well folks i think i found the problem, "fuel check valves"
On friday i stomped on it in 5th on the highway to avoid a merging driver and a few minutes later the car started lunging forward. My first thought was air in the lines, i limped off the highway and it stalled shortly after leaving me stranded in the parkinglot of a paint store. I popped the hood and as i had thought the lines were full of air bubbles. I checked the filter for leaks and couldn't see any, so i popped the trunk, opened the fuel pump access hole and found one of the check valves in a few pieces. Luckily i had my tool box and spare fuel tube with me "been waiting for this day for awhile". I took out the check valves and replaced them with tube and it started right up after i got the air out. The engine seems to purr now too, i don't think it liked those valves at all, i'm curious to see if theres a mileage increase. My butt dyno senses more power as well

[Enslaved_Pickle]

Thought i would post this question in here rather than start a new thread. I've been dealing with serp belt squeak since i rebuilt the car. I have replaced the belt 2 with  smaller sizes, replaced the belt tensioner and last night i replaced the crank pulley and IT STILL SQUEAKS!! the only thing i can think of is that the belt tensioner which is "carquest" not oem, has too much tension? Or they have given me the wrong belt twice. The belt is rubbing on the top of the waterpump pulley

I even bought a belt 1/4" shorter than what they recommended and after a week or two is started squeaking again, any ideas?

[vanbcguy]

When you say you replaced the tensioner...

Did you replace the TENSIONER or the TENSIONER PULLEY?

Too much tension would definitely not be an issue, too little would cause squeaking.

Ah, I might know the issue... You're a fellow Canuck.  Here's a bet that your car doesn't have AC?  Actually yup, I see that in your thread... So you have a serp belt without an AC compressor any more?

It sounds like you've got the wrong collection of pulleys on there.  If you delete the AC compressor then you need to change the WP pulley to the non-AC style.  That one gets driven by the serpentine belt instead of the v-belt.  That leaves only the PS pump being driven by the v-belt, so you need a shorter v-belt too.

If you go that route, here's what you need:

http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/forum/tdi-water-pump-pully_topic61385.html

[Enslaved_Pickle]

I deleted the ac from the "car" when i got it, the aaz came without ac, waterpump pulley is stock, everything is serp belt, i have no v-belt since i deleted ps.

[vanbcguy]

OK - if the belt is too long and rubbing on they WP pulley under the tensioner then you still need a shorter belt.  The parts stores seem to really suck at belt size lookups for the Canada-specific engines so I'm not surprised you've had issues.  Our ACC-engined Jetta took about 3 tries to get the right size belt and it has exactly the same pulley layout as you are dealing with.

I believe I got a Gates K060408HD for my car with the same setup.

I haven't put it on yet so I can't say for sure that it is the right size but I got the size info from my research before.  You can get the 'regular' version of the belt without the HD suffix for a tiny bit less money.  The HD version is their fleet service version which is supposed to last longer.  It's a green belt rather than black.

[Enslaved_Pickle]

I have the k060408 on my car right now, it stopped the squeak for about 2 months and then it was back

[vanbcguy]

That really sounds fishy...

I just put my Gates on today, came out like this:



With that much wrap on the alt pulley it'd take a LOT to make it slip...

Hey do you have a clutched alternator pulley on yours?

[Enslaved_Pickle]

Thats my exact setup " minus the clutched alternator pulley". I just put a new k060408 on yesterday and its already squeaking i'm beginning to thinks its either the tensioner pulley or alternator???

[theman53]

The arm on the tensioner pulley was the culprit on my MKIV

[Enslaved_Pickle]

That could be it too, in the picture above, his water pump pulley has alot of room between it and the belt, mine has about 5mm.  I thought maybe the tensioner spring was too strong? Heres some images hopefully they help, the second one shows the tensioner and just how close it is to being at its end, shouldn't it rest in the middle somewhere? Especially with a new belt?

[vanbcguy]

Automotive belts aren't really "stretchy" so an overly strong spring wouldn't be an issue. Plus I'd find that extremely unlikely as a cause either way.

The tensioner arms do definitely wear out. If you don't have a clutched alternator pulley your belt is probably jumping around a fair amount too which also wears away the tensioner arm big time.

I greased up the tensioner arm on mine big time before installing it. Don't know if that was necessary or whatever but I didn't think it would hurt.

[srgtlord]

The bushings in the tensioner wear out. Once they do the arm of the tensioner grinds on the inside of the bracket where it sits and you will need a new tensioner arm. IDparts has the peices to rebuild your tensioner.